The present invention relates to a fuze for a bomblet projectile, with the fuze including an axially displaceable firing pin, a slide which carries a detonation charge and which is displaceable transversely to the longitudinal direction of the projectile, and to the projectile and fuze housing center axis, to move the detonation charge from a safety position to a position wherein it is aligned with the firing pin, and spin braking fins which are pivotally mounted on the exterior of the fuze housing.
Bomblet projectiles are submunition projectiles, that is, secondary projectiles, which are transported in large numbers, e.g. 63 each, by a large-caliber carrier projectile over distances up to 30 km to above a target area and are there ejected at a height of, for example, 300 m. While such bomblet projectiles are dropping or descending, they are mechanically set to detonate.
In order to ensure high penetration power for the shaped charge of the bomblet, it is necessary to quickly brake, in a defined manner, the high rotational velocity of the bomblet after it is ejected from the carrier projectile without the bomblet taking on or passing through an unstable flight position.
Federal Republic of Germany Laid-open patent application DE-OS 2,242,930, corresponding to U.S. Pat. No. 3,838,644, already discloses a stackable bomblet whose spin braking fins are deployed, by centrifugal force, transversely to the longitudinal axis of the projectile and are pressed by the on-flowing air against a projection on the housing serving as a fixed abutment. The drawback here is that the braking effect already begins with full force immediately after ejection, and the sudden stopping of the spin braking fins when they are deployed may initiate or augment a pendulum action of the bomblet with the result that the fuze may fail upon impact.
This prior art bomblet fuze is made in the following manner: The bomblet fuze includes a firing pin provided with a screw mechanism which is screwed in when the safety is on and thus engages in a recess in the detonator carrier or slide to prevent it from being transversely displaced into the armed position. The outer end piece of the screwed-in firing pin facing away from the detonator carrier is connected with a stabilization loop which unfolds after ejection of the bomblet from the carrier projectile and, due to the onset of air resistance, exerts a torque on the screwed-in firing pin. After the firing pin has been unscrewed sufficiently, centrifugal forces push the detonator carrier into its armed position and the safety is off the fuze, arming it. There now exists the possibility that during contact of a different bomblet with the screwed-out firing pin, premature detonation in the air may take place.